Forthcoming Radhastami & Boat Festival--- The Last Of The Majors

The upcoming Radhastami and the Radha-Krishna Boat Festival mark the end of the festive season for the year here at Sri Krishna Mandir.



The Radhastami is to be celebrated on the Friday, 1st of September and the Transcendental Boat Festival follows on the following Sunday, 3rd of September, 2006.



On the Radhastami, there will be a puspanjali (flower-offering ceremony) at 12 noon until when all the devotees are required to fast.



Devotees of Lord Krishna do not try to approach Him directly because this is very difficult. They try to please Srimati Radharani because She is extremely merciful and if She recommends us to Krishna, Krishna has no choice but to accept us.



The Boat Festival is the most awaited of all the festivals of the year for the devotees and well-wishers alike. It is to be held at the Jalan Besar Swimming Complex near the Lavender MRT Station from 6pm to 9pm on the 3rd of September, Sunday.



Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Madanamohana take a ride in the waters of the Swimming Complex in a gorgeous swan boat. The whole procession will be accompanied by non-stop sankirtan (congregational singing of the holy names and dancing). This will be followed by a full meal prasadam.



We request your attendance in this festival, which is the last of the major festivals this year.



Hare Krishna!

Sri Vyasa Puja '06

On the 17th of August this year, we celebrated the 110th anniversary of the appearance day of Srila Prabhupada.

The appearance day of the spiritual master (or acarya) is technically called Vyasa Puja. This is because the spiritual master is the true representative of Srila Vyasadeva, the original compiler of all the Vedic literatures and the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

To be a true representative of Srila Vyasadeva, the acarya should in no way differ from the opinion of Vyasadeva or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Bhagavad Gita (15.15), Lord Krishna says, vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah. After scrutinizingly studying all the Vedas one comes to the conclusion that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, He is the supreme enjoyer, supreme proprietor and the supreme friend of everyone. But elsewhere in the Bhagavad Gita (7.19), Krishna also says:

bahunam janmanam ante

jnanavan mam prapadyate

vasudevah sarvam iti

sa mahatma sudurlabhah.

"After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare. "

This means that one who understands the true message of Vyasadeva is not common. To understand the message as it is, one has to receive it from a bonafide disciplic succession. A bonafide disciplic succeession is nothing but an unbroken chain of spiritual masters who are at the highest realization of the Absolute Truth. Such personalities are extremely rare. They are worshipable by everyone because they have the solution to all the problems of the suffering humanity and they can give the highest perfection of life even to the most fallen.

It is our great fortune to come into contact with such a person. Although we cannot repay the debt to our spiritual master, we can show our gratitude by following his instruction.

On the Vyasa Puja Day, all the people whose lives have been touched by the transcendental messages from the lotus lips of the pure devotee acarya offer their writings glorifying his uncommon qualities and pastimes.

The Sri Krishna Mandir celebrated the appearance day of Srila Prabhupada, who by his pure devotion unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, broadcasted the pure message of the Vedas all over the world awakening all the sleeping souls in this dark material world.

The abhisheka ceremony (bathing ceremony) was performed at noon following which was the puspanjali (flower offering), the kirtan accompanying both the events. About 200 people enthusiastically participated in the ceremony.

The best part was the devotees' expressing their love for Srila Prabhupada in their written offerings. Almost all the people present, including the kids and old alike, read out their offerings. It was a very touching experience. It has to be because the Singapore Yatra is especially blessed by Srila Prabhupada. All the devotees could feel this very intensely. The reading went on until 2:30pm and the prasadam was delayed by an hour but no one complained! They were all blissful in glorifying a pure devotee of the Lord.

Srila Prabhupada must surely have felt satisfied by the sincere, although possibly imperfect, prayers of his beloved disciples and followers.

Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Janmastami Extravaganza!!

Hare Krishna! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!



Lord Sri Krishna celebrated His birthday in great pomp and style here in Sri Krishna Mandir, Singapore. From 7pm right upto 1 am, the temple was buzzing with transcendental vibrations. The birthday dress of the Lord looked beautiful on Him. He was so charming that it was only with great difficulty that one can take his/her eyes off His divine form.




The festivities started off at 7pm with the aratrika accompanied by heavy kirtan. The temple was so opulent with the more-than-3000 crowd that packed the temple joining the kirtan.



About 100 people from an old folks' home arrived to watch the festivities. Following the kirtan was a series of cultural shows which included 2 dances, a children's drama and a talk and finally, the adult drama. The temple hall, the prasadam section and the cultural show section were full with people at any given time.



The audience were rapt in attention while watching the cultural programs culminating in the final drama "The Killing of Kamsa" played by the Vaikuntha Players of Sri Krishna Mandir. Following the cultural programme was the abhisheka ceremony(bathing of the Lord in different liquids such as water, milk, ghee(clarified butter), honey, yoghurt, rose-scented water and fruit juice).

After the Lord was bathed, everyone was waiting for the mid-night aratrika. All the devotees broke their 24-hour fast after the aratrika. The prasadam was one thing which everyone undoubtedly enjoyed.



The feedback of the guests was most encouraging to the devotees. They all were totally impressed by the whole festival. By seeing all the guests satisfied the devotees could at once know that Srila Prabhupada was satisfied and thus, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.



Many people who attended the festival were through the advertisement published in The Strait Times. The newspaper turned out to be a great preaching field, as observed in this festive season beginning from the Ratha Yatra. Literally, thousands were benefitted by this adventurous move. Due to this bold step taken by His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu, the President of the Sri Krishna Mandir, the results are showing. Lord Krishna brought so many thousands to the temple on that one single day. To achieve this feat in Singapore is possible only due to the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. His movement can only grow bigger and bigger.



Jaya Srila Prabhupada!!

A one-of-a-kind Jhulan Yatra '06

This year, the Jhulan Yatra was special in so many ways. This was the first time the Jhulan Yatra being held outside the temple premises. It was open for everyone to see.

The most attractive feature of the festival however, was the beautiful Vrndavana scene in which Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Madanmohan had Their swing pastime. The stage was gorgeously decorated by Bhakta Santiraan and other devotees. It looked just like the beautiful Vrndavana forest with trees, creepers, flowers, magnificient parrots of different colors, monkeys, a peacock (all artificial except the trees, some of which were also artificial) with the picture depicting Radha & Krishna in Their swing pastime as the backdrop. The swing was hung from a tree branch and magnificiently decorated with flowers. Their Lordships swung on a beautiful throne adorned with flowers atop the swing.

The view was so enchanting and breath-taking that there was a complete traffic jam every now and then. They were taking photographs from their cars and some became so enthused that they immediately parked their cars wherever they could and participated in the festival. The passers-by just could not take their eyes off the scene. They were spellbound!!

The kirtan, which could be heard from many lanes away, surcharged and purified the whole atmosphere and everyone was engulfed in festive joy.

The last day of the Jhulan Yatra coincided with the Balarama Jayanti. The killing of the demon Pralambasura by the kids was a most enjoyable experience. Crowds in the hundreds gathered to watch the show. It was very enlivening.
When the demon was finally "killed" by our heroic kids, everyone ran to grab the prasadam that fell out of the body of Pralambasura.

On all the five days, sumptuous prasadam was served to many hundreds. Everyone were really turned on after having their prasadam. Then there was a very impressive score of book sales.

This festival really boosted our image and preaching. So many new faces turned up and each and everyone were so impressed and moved that many of the newcomers enthusiastically came on all the five days.

All in all, it was a unique festival and Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Madanmohan were very merciful upon the conditioned souls by displaying the glory of Their ever-triumphant pastimes in the mundane world as stated in the Brahma-samhita (5.42):

ananda-cinmaya-rasatmataya manahsu

yah praninam pratiphalan smaratam upetya

lilayitena bhuvanani jayaty ajasram

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

Translation

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose glory ever triumphantly dominates the mundane world by the activity of His own pastimes, being reflected in the minds of recollecting souls as the transcendental entity of ever-blissful cognitive rasa.

We, at Sri Krishna Mandir, thank everyone for participating in all aspects of the festival and there are many more to come in the next one month. So, stay tuned! For a brochure on the upcoming festivals, please make a visit to our temple. Hare Krishna!!